In her March 28 letter to the editor (“Punished for Good Behavior”), Barbara Spencer wrote about her experience with her water bill and rates since July 2024. There is a misconception about water rate structure I would like to address for the benefit of all Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency customers.
Ms. Spencer notes that, over time, she has decreased her water usage but feels she is being charged more per ccf (hundred cubic feet) of water at the same time. However, there are three components to a water bill that must be considered.
First, each SCV Water customer pays a fixed monthly charge for their water meter, based on the size of the meter at the connection. On top of that fixed charge, there is a variable use rate (currently $2.52 per ccf, where 1 ccf equals 748 gallons) that is charged based on how much water is used each month.
Finally, depending on where a customer lives in the Santa Clarita Valley, there is a legacy debt charge that goes toward retiring the debt held by each of SCV Water’s legacy divisions prior to the merger in 2018. Customers of the former Valencia Water Co. and Santa Clarita Water Division pay this charge, while customers of the former Newhall County Water District finished paying off that agency’s debt. Over time, this charge will drop off bills when the legacy debt is repaid.
As a customer has a reduction in water usage, their overall bill will go down. However, this does not mean that the per ccf charge is increasing – they continue to pay associated fixed charges. Any changes in rates are put into place on July 1 of each year in accordance with a rate plan that has been approved by the SCV Water board of directors.
We thank Ms. Spencer for being water-wise and encourage all customers to reach out to our Customer Care team at 661-294-0828 should they ever have a question about their account.
Kevin Strauss
Communications Manager, SCV Water
Santa Clarita
